1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control of the closing sequence of two wings or leaves of windows, doors or the like which are closeable by means of a door-closing device each.
2. Description of the Related Art
The two wings or leaves of doors, windows or the like mentioned above are a moving wing to be opened first and a resting wing to be opened subsequently. Each door closing device attached to a wing is equipped with a guide roller or the like which is mounted on a pivotable sliding arm and is horizontally guided on a fixed frame. The two wings are rotatably hinged to opposite vertical sides of a frame. If the wings are equipped as usual with projecting edges, one of the wings must always be closed before the other, so that the projecting edges can engage in each other and the second wing can be closed without being obstructed by the projecting edge of the first wing.
In doors having two wings, one of the doors is usually kept closed and, therefore, is called the resting wing, while the other door is continuously opened and closed or may also be held in an open position for a period of time and, therefore, is called the moving wing. Both doors are provided with a door closing device of known construction which, unless the doors are locked, return the doors after they are released into the closed position.
If a locking device is provided, this locking device must be manually or automatically released prior to closing, so that the door closing device can carry out its closing function. When the doors are smoke and fire protection doors, such a locking device can be automatically released in the case of fire by means of an appropriate monitoring unit. It must be ensured particularly in this case that the closing sequence of the two doors is absolutely maintained because the doors could otherwise not be completely closed. One of the doors, particularly the moving wing, can be closed up to a position which is relatively close to the closed position, however, the door must then be maintained in this position until the other wing, i.e., the resting wing, has assumed its closed position.
Hereinbelow, it is assumed that it is always the resting wing which must be closed before the moving wing.
Arrangements for controlling the closing sequence of two doors which are each closable by means of a door-closing device are already known. A door-closing device is understood to be a conventional device which always acts on the wing in the swinging closing direction and whose force becomes effective when no other forces act on the open or partially open wing in opening direction and when no holding forces act on the wing and when the wing is also not locked. Such door-closing devices may be mounted in the upper as well as the lower end of the door.
An arrangement for controlling the closing sequence of wings, also called closing sequence regulator, must not only safely close the doors in a predetermined sequence, but must also meet certain aesthetic requirements. In addition, the arrangement should be as much as possible protected against damage, particularly against intentional damage. Furthermore, the closing sequence regulator must operate as safely as possible, particularly when the doors are fire or smoke protection doors.
For example, a closing sequence regulator has been known in which a hydraulic valve in the bypass line of the door-closing device is controlled through the resting wing. However, such devices are frequently not safe enough in their operation because leaks in the hydraulic system cannot be avoided absolutely safely and because of the sensitivity of the control elements in the case of fire. It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a closing sequence regulator in which the above-described disadvantages are avoided and to further develop the above-described arrangement in such a way that hydraulic units are avoided and, consequently, the operational safety is increased. In addition, the arrangement should be robust, inexpensive to manufacture and easy to assemble.